What's Taking So Long for Connected Cars to Go Mainstream?
January 09 2018 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Kantar TNS study shows that despite vast
investment by auto brands, 25% of car owners don’t actively use
their connected car’s features
25% of car owners are not actively using their connected car’s
features – a figure which includes 11% who don’t even know if their
vehicle has the technology according to a new study of the
attitudes and purchase behavior of more than 8,500 consumers across
Europe, North America and China by one of the world’s largest
research agencies, Kantar TNS.
The findings show that despite investing vast amounts of capital
in embedding new technologies and services, auto brands are
struggling to convince owners of these ‘connected’ benefits. In
fact, more than half (60%) of drivers who accessed these services
at the time of car purchase either don’t plan to, or are unsure
whether they will renew them in the future.
“We are seeing car manufacturers competing for market share by
differentiating their offer with ever-more sophisticated
technologies and services,” said Paul Crispell U.S. Connected Car
Lead, Kantar TNS. “But we’re not yet seeing this translate into
embedded and habitual usage among car owners. We found a clear
disconnect between what manufacturers are producing and what the
car owners are looking for.”
Unconnected connectivity
Kantar TNS finds that for many owners, the technology is still
seen as an optional extra and not an intrinsic or embedded part of
the vehicle. This highlights a perception gap given the role that
technology and connectivity can play in the vehicle’s performance,
safety and the driving experience. The study finds that 52% of
respondents would pay for driver related services such as
navigation features – a figure which falls drastically to 26% for
entertainment features where buyers often prefer to use well-known
apps on smartphones rather than the in-built services of their
cars.
Globally it’s clear that premium brand owners are leading the
way in terms of the adoption of connected features, with a higher
proportion of premium owners willing to pay for connected features
when compared with mainstream brand vehicle owners. For example,
while 52% of all car owners cited navigation features as something
they would be willing to pay for, this rises to 72% when looking at
only premium car owners.
The trust equation
Auto brands are in a strong position when it comes to
perceptions of safety and security among drivers, as they enjoy
significantly more trust than other tech companies – 40% of
consumers trust car brands with their data compared with 10% for
companies such as Google and Facebook. Aside from security and
privacy, demonstrating how technology can improve driver and
passenger safety will also appeal to consumers – with 43% of the
users of connected features globally saying it is an attractive
feature.
Show the benefit
There is further good news for car manufacturers as the study
shows there’s a strong appetite for connected vehicle purchases,
with over half of consumers planning a connected vehicle as their
next car purchase, with an overwhelming majority of people (64%)
looking to their car dealers for guidance on these emerging
technologies.
“In the minds of many car owners, connectivity is complex.
Rather than following the ‘build it and they will buy’ model, auto
brands have an opportunity to grow their market share by
simplifying their features, aligning them with the core customer
wish list and by communicating the benefits more effectively within
their existing marketing channels,” says Crispell. “In mature
markets such as the U.S., it’s clear that for now, dealer networks
still have a big role to play here as trusted players in the path
to purchase.
For further information please visit
http://go.tnsglobal.com/connected-cars
About the research
This information is based on research carried out by Kantar TNS
between July 6 and August 27 2017. The research covers the attitude
towards CASE topics (Connectivity, Autonomous Driving, Shared
Mobility and Electrification).
8,576 individuals were interviewed who had bought a new or
nearly new car that was first registered in 2013 or after.
Respondents are smartphone users and (partly) involved in the
buying process of the car involved. No car make was excluded,
resulting in representing 67 different car makes in the study.
The scope of the study includes North America (USA, Canada),
China and Europe (UK, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands,
Italy and the Nordics (Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway)).
This Connected Car study is allied to Connected Life 2017, a
global Kantar TNS study, answering the question: How can companies
build and maintain trust in the rapidly-changing connected,
post-truth world?
About Kantar TNS
Kantar TNS is one of the world’s largest research agencies with
experts in over 90 countries. With expertise in innovation, brand
and communication, shopper activation and customer relationships we
help our clients identify, optimize and activate the moments that
matter to drive growth for their business.
We are part of Kantar, one of the world’s leading data, insight
and consultancy companies.
Find out more at www.tnsglobal.com
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180109006148/en/
For more information or to arrange an interview:Kantar
TNSStephen Shively, 512-314-1810Stephen.shively@kantartns.com
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